Reason Being's Discussions

Hi everyone, I just stumbled upon this site. I have been an atheist for quite some time now, but have just decided I needed to "talk" about it publicly. The current political scene in the U.S. can…Continue

My new post is up. You can read it here: Skepticism, Credibility, and Popularity I would also ask all of you who support the Atheist Bloggers calling for the boycott of the Boy Scouts, to spread the word by spreading any of the posts that you like. If you haven't read any of them, there is a list of them all at the end of my post on the topic, which you can…

Well the atheist blogger Boy Scout Boycott campaign this weekend certainly caught some attention. Thanks for your support on that. I think I can speak for all of us when I say "thank you". If you haven't checked it out, there is a list of all the blog participants at the end of the post here.

Comment Wall (7 comments)

You need to be a member of Atheist Nexus to add comments!

Humanism is defined, in part, to "embrace justice and ethics?" This seems to leave the door open to an ether of natural good and evil. Can't we just go with secular, using biology to better understand our nature and choices?

Nah, if I were to use the term, people might get the wrong idea - most likely get the impression that I'm an accomodationist. I'm Not.

I don't think humanism adds compassion to mix. To me, a good definition of humanism can be found here (http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=main&page=sh_defined). The topic of compassion leads me down the road of morality. That is a slippery slope when it comes to defining the source, in that I do not think there is a universal answer among people who reject religion as the source. My personal answer is that morality (including things such as compassion) is a part of our evolution. Somewhere along the way we learned some basic principles to help the species survive. My short answer would be to lump compassion in that evolution. RB

I certainly agree with the biological being the raw material of any ethical valuation. I am a biologist.

My experience with the term humanism is as it represents a let's all get along and sing Kumbaya Unitarian kind of thing. I use science-based models but certainly enjoy fantasy and irrational hope like anyone else, with the standard sensibilities of the Western middle class.

I may be secular, but the humanist part I'm not sure about. How does humanist add to the idea that one rejects ghosts and magic and sees more effective and humane solutions to problems. Does humanism imply compassion?

Hello Reason Being and welcome to this wonderful world of rationality, truth and peace.

Unbiased common sense, helped by science, leads to happy freethinking wisdom as you have found out.

We invite you to make good friends by joining the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Astronomy, Life, Earth, Humans, Religion, Gods, Atheism, Evolution, Darwin..." with 650 discussion topics and 3200 members.